Washington lawmakers have departed the Capitol and are getting back to their normal lives. For most of them, that means going back to their regular jobs as farmers, lawyers, nurses, business owners. It’s the essence of a citizen legislature.
But this dual existence – one job as a lawmaker and another job back home - can invite conflicts of interest.
Family Matters
Let’s start with a specific example of how the ethical lines can get blurred. Recently, the Washington Senate voted on a bipartisan compromise dealing with the estate tax. Freshman Senator John Braun was the lead Republican on the issue.
“I rise in somewhat conflicted support of this bill,” he said.
Braun referred to the estate tax as a “death tax.” But said he could support this compromise because it created a new deduction for family-owned businesses. “This has offered the opportunity to do something, I believe, of great benefit to our state's small family businesses."
What you wouldn’t have known watching the debate is that Braun himself runs a business that builds specialty emergency vehicles like ambulances.
So here’s the question: was it appropriate for Senator Braun to negotiate and vote on an estate tax bill that carves out a specific exemption for families who own businesses? Later in the Senate wings, Braun said whether his family’s company would benefit was not a consideration.
“I would take exception to anyone that would suggest that I am coming at this from a personal gain angle," he said. "I was asked to participate and I did participate simply on the basis of my experience, my personal experience.”
As it turns out, Braun says he believes his share of the family’s business is too big to qualify for the new exemption. But even if it did, Lt. Governor Brad Owen, who presides over the Senate, would give Senator Braun wide latitude. Owens says, “I find it very difficult to claim a conflict of interest in a legislative body that is made up of citizen legislators.”
Personal Experience vs. Self Interest
As Lt. Governor, Owen, a Democrat, gives formal and informal advice on conflict of interest questions. His rule: as long as the lawmaker alone doesn’t benefit, it’s not an ethical problem.
Owen gives the example of himself: when he was a state senator he had a grocery business. “A grocer issue comes up, well there are several thousand grocers in the state of Washington, you have every right and should, in my opinion, vote on that issue.”
Washington’s Legislative Ethics Board applies the same rule. Citizen legislators often gravitate to the issues and committees that match their backgrounds. Nurses to healthcare. Teachers to education. Police officers to public safety.
Take State Representative Mike Sells, a Democrat. In his private life, he works for the Snohomish County Labor Council. In the legislature he chairs the House Labor and Workforce Development Committee.
Sells says he asked House leadership to let him chair the higher education committee. “They said ‘but we’d like you to be the labor chair.’ And I said ‘okay I can handle it.’”
Sells doesn’t see a conflict between working for a labor union and chairing a labor committee. This year several changes to Washington’s injured workers system died in Sells' committee. Business groups wanted them, labor was hotly opposed.
Recuse You
But Sells says that didn’t mean he should have recused himself. “There were not the votes on my committee because the Democrats did not feel it was a good thing to do, quite frankly. So it’s not something the chairman decides on their own to block.”
Although that can happen too. When in doubt, Washington lawmakers can ask for a ruling on the floor. And there have been instances, though rare, when they do have to recuse themselves. That happened to former House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt in 2011 -- a bill directly affected his employer.
DeBolt wishes more lawmakers would ask for conflict of interest rulings. He says that would show legislators are being cautious and have respect for the institution.
